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Letters, open and counters

In this Information age, the opinions of people are shaped
by the discourse that happens in the media – the newspapers, the internet
forums, the videos that are shot, the letters, open letters and counter
letters. A vast majority of them are full of half-truths and that is not
surprising as every side has skeletons to hide. The problem arises when a
gullible population (read Indians) digest these printed words both offline and
on as the ultimate Truth without question. Secondary sources and even imaginary
accounts becomes Gospels to be used to shut anyone who dares to oppose the
mainstream discourse.

The Quint has recently published an open letter by a veteran
soldier of the Indian Army named Major Gaurav. They apparently waited for a
counter to that which was furnished by a Wasim Khan, a ‘Kashmiri’ who now is
settled in Mumbai and runs a successful media agency (not surprising).

So before we go into braindead blaming attempts, let’s
analyze the two pieces one by one and check the merits of each case. First,
let’s see what
the Major has to say. The letter is addressed to the dead terrorist –
Burhan Wani (actually to all sympathizers of him)

‘Ever since you were terminated in a forces-led operation in
the Valley, 23 people have died. I don’t know why they died. The majority were
possibly overcome with grief and fury and wanted to avenge your death. That did
not happen, for obvious reasons. A policeman was thrown along with his vehicle
into a river and he drowned. I grieve with your family and with the families of
all those who lost their lives. Despicable though you may have been, I cannot
find it in my heart to blame your family.’

This is not unique to Kashmir. In fact, if you kill a
policeman and riot in the streets in any country – even in Switzerland or
Norway, you will face the full might of the state to restore what the state
calls ‘normalcy’. And this is a known fact, certainly in the region of Kashmir
that has seen similar ‘uprisings’ in the past as well. There can be no excuse
for this fake ignorance. The Major is quite empathetic in his approach, unlike
what I expected of him.

He then adds, ‘The day you started your social media blitzkrieg,
you were a dead man. You encouraged young men of Kashmir to kill Indian
soldiers, all from behind the safety of your Facebook account. You died when
you were 22. Had you survived this operation, you would have died when you were
23. Just a different date on the calendar, that’s all. The intensity of
violence and the result would have been the same.’ This is also true and almost
nothing to object. In fact this is the policy of any State in the world and
India is not an exception. Any armed threat to the sovereignty of any nation,
especially from religious zealots can be put down by armed force. There is no
hypocrisy in this.

Then he writes, ‘I wish we had met and I could have
explained to you (before killing you) that the old men of the Hurriyat Conference
are like leeches. They feed on the blood of men. They send young Kashmiris to
face the Indian Army. What sort of a war is this, where lambs are sent to fight
lions?’ This is where the Major misses the point. While he is correct about the
Hurriyat who just make empty claims of representing the whole of Kashmir, it is
the Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen that is ruling the roost, at least with Burhan as the
commander. It is true that the Hurriyat
only defends terrorists while encouraging their own children to flourish in
Indian and Western universities. But that is because they are (perhaps
often rightly) accused to be a safety valve, a convenient pawn in the hands of
the Indian establishment. The real ‘fight’ against the existence of the
un-Islamic Indian control over Jammu and Kashmir is waged by the HuM and the
Lashkar e Taiba (among others). And it needs to be mentioned that the HuM is
highly motivated and they do send their children to wage Allah’s war without
flinching. So the Major here makes a mistake in not being able to distinguish
the real enemy from what was apparent. May be he was trying to be diplomatic,
hoping to wish away the harsher realities and apply a soothing touch. But he
may have fooled only the mainland Indians. Kashmiri Muslims will not be swayed
by this rhetoric. They the difference between the HuM and the Hurriyat.

He ends with defiance, ‘You were a terrorist. You chose to
wage war against India. Like for all other such perpetrators in the past, it
didn’t go too well for you. When you choose to fight against the Indian Army,
know this; THEY WILL KILL YOU. Your supporters now want blood. So be it.
Cheers!’ Events have indeed turned him right. The terrorists will try to impose
their rule of Shariyat and the Indian State will try to oppose this. In this
war, the Indian State will emerge victorious, but the problem will remain only
suppressed, only to return later, may be just to be suppressed again. The real
issues behind these symptoms will not be addressed (I mean the whole Mosque
network and religious apparatus including maulvis).

Now let us look at the emotional ‘response’ of Wasim Khan.
For all his sentimental outburst, which is natural, he is eloquent. So let’ssee what he has to say.

He begins with a sober note, ‘I could talk about each one of
those issues, but I think there’s a bigger issue here that’s gone missing. I
want to talk about that because I don’t want my friends, especially in India to
feel proud about what’s happening in Kashmir right now. I want them to know the
truth, which according to your letter I find half told.’ The issues he mentions
means the issues leading up to the ‘uprising’ and Kashmiri Muslim’s
disenchantment with ‘Hindu’ India.

He is also honest in his primary appraisal when he states
that, ‘Let me begin by saying that I get your point straight up. Burhan Wani
was a Hizbul commander. He challenged the Indian army and he met his fate. I
understand and in fact I respect that as your point of view being an army
officer. This is war. No two ways about it. Lets not be confused and that’s
your job. The army is in Kashmir to kill insurgents and has been doing so
successfully for about two and a half decades now. You being an army officer
should take pride in that and so should the fellow countrymen.’

Then he drives down the path of victimhood and blatantly
obfuscates facts when he states, ‘I will not take this back to history and talk
about why there is insurgency to begin with. I’m sure you are well aware of it.
If not then you’re being conveniently ignorant.’

Masterstroke!

So when did insurgency begin? Our Wasim Khan refuses to even
mention the reasons. Why? Is he afraid that his narrative is the same as that
of the ISIS and the various other Jihadis in the Valley trying to justify their
establishment of an Islamic State in Kashmir? For all that’s worth, the reasons
are known and written down in stone. Only parts can be shown to people, depending
on which side you are on. But what happened has happened and the past can’t
change. Even God/Allah can’t do that. The real insurgency began around 1989,
after Benazir Bhutto gave her speech exhorting the Kashmiri youth to rise up
against the Kafir rulers, reminding them that their blood was of the Ghazis and
what not. True, the ramblings began in 1984 and actually a little before that,
and the farcical election of 1987 did give it a boost. But the insurgency, the
armed struggle actually began around 1989 to 1990, which incidentally saw the
ethnic cleansing of all 400,000+ Kashmiri Pandits from the valley (except about
a couple of thousand!) In fact, the following period saw
the expulsion of lesser Muslims like the Shias. Why even go to that? In the
1990s itself, all the bars, the movie theaters, theaters and all were ‘banned’
by Islamists as they were against Islam. Women’s dress code was implemented,
among others by a young fiery woman named Asiya Andrabi of the Dukhtaran e
Millat (Women of Islam) who became
notorious for throwing acid on Muslim women not wearing the burqa! (Quoted
here is a pro Islamist Indian Muslim paper, in case doubts of veracity arises)
And before you jump your gun, let me assure you – she is considered a hero of
sorts in the Valley. Not very different from the (in) famous executions of rape
victims and women in the Kabul stadium while the crowd jeered. In fact, the local
Kashmiri young boys threatened outstation girl students in the National
Institute of Technology, Srinagar of rape to silence them! But I guess that’s
ok and pardonable under their way and faith!

He continues, ‘You, Major Arya, are a part of a mighty
force. I think fifth strongest in the world but then you forget. More than the
might of the army you are also a part of worlds largest democracy. If J&K
is an ‘integral’ part of India then why do not the laws of democracy apply
there? In statistics they do. Don’t you think that’s being hypocritical?’

Okay, he assumes that the Major forgets that he belongs to
the Indian Army and its strength. Is he stupid? No. He is trying to compare the
David and Goliath scale to this conflict, implying in the justness of the
Islamist cause in Kashmir. Smart move. But here’s the thing – the strength of
any country is not measured in numbers, at least not any more (this is not the
early twentieth century), but by the resolve and the efficiency with which a
nation can meet its threats. It can be a small force and still protect itself,
and vice versa, a bigger army can falter in its duty as well. The strength of
the armed forces may not be the full story. Being a part of the world’s largest
democracy is irrelevant here, any conflict, any armed insurrection against any
state in the world, democracy or otherwise will be met with arms. Wasim can’t
take shelter under democracy’s embrace all the while kicking at her from below.
Then he adds his classic. He mentions all of Jammu and Kashmir to be an
‘integral’ part of India. Integral in quotes. His stand is quite clear by now.
It would not be partisan on my behalf to conclude which side he is on. But I
will let that slide, his arguments are enough to rebut him comprehensively. He
claims that the laws of democracy are applied there.

This is difficult. Because J&K has its own constitution,
along with the Indian Constitution. So legally there is some confusion. In
terms of Defense, foreign affairs and the like, the Indian Constitution takes
precedence, but let’s look closely at what Wasim is trying to point at. The
reaction. He is pointing to the Indian Forces reaction to the armed insurgency
and stone pelting attacks of the rioting mob. Mind you, stone pelting is no
less harmful than pellets – while a pellet can penetrate only your softer
tissues, a barrage of stones can and do damage a lot more. In fact, other
countries like the US (during the Black/anti Black riots), China (though not
democratic, during Tiananmen), Ukraine (Crimea), Pakistan (East Pakistan,
Balochistan), Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Indonesia etc. have
responded with far greater forces, using live bullets and even tanks in some cases
to put down rebellions. A democracy gives many the impression that it is a
blank cheque that anyone can cash anytime. But it does not imply impotency.
There are sufficient safeguards in democratic states as well. That was what
allowed the United States and England to mobilize their forces to
comprehensively against the might of the Axis powers in the World War 2. The
land of ‘One Land, One People, One Leader’ was put to ruins. Japan and Italy
were also vanquished. In fact Japan was crushed by the democracies alone as the
contribution of Soviet Union in that theater was only in name. But we can
forgive Wasim for not remembering these. His world view may be much smaller,
perhaps restricted to places where only Muslim have taken a beating, for
whatever reasons.

In that case, he must not have forgotten the implementation
of curfew in Gujarat in 2002, Muzaffarnagar in 2013, Bhagalpur, Nellie,
Calcutta and so on. He should not have been ignorant of the number of Hindus
killed in police actions in response to rioting Hindu mobs. Perhaps it is lost
on the young Wasim that if you riot, you can be shot – being Hindu, Muslim,
atheist etc is no guarantee for clemency.

Then he goes on, ‘Going by your words had Burhan survived at
22, he would have died at 23. You know I didn’t even about know about him till
recently. I actually Googled him after his death and he became news to me along
with the rest of my friends in India. Apparently he became a militant because
the army trashed his brother unconscious in front of him. That probably was the
first nail.’

I have covered this a while earlier, but what Wasim adds in
the end is troubling. What he does is justify the becoming of a terrorist. So
the logic goes this – if your brother or sister is trashed unconscious (there
is no evidence of this incident that I could find, except from this oft quoted
account sans references). I will give a short summary of what happened.
Khalid (Burhan’s brother), Burhan and his friend went on a bike drive and was
requested to buy some cigarettes for the Special Operations Group lads on some
road in Tral. This is pretty common in any place in India where on duty
policemen (or in this case special policemen) ask civilians to get them
cigarettes or paan. The young Khalid bought them cigarettes which the young
soldiers accepted. Then apparently without any reason they beat Khalid black
and blue! And what is surprising is the 15 year old Burhan managed to drive his
bike with his friend on his back away from the security cauldron without a
scratch! All the while leaving his brother in the lurch! And yes, he even
managed to threaten the policemen that he will avenge this! Very filmy. But
what makes this story utterly fantastic is that the soldiers did not even
bother to visit the young Burhan’s house after that, not even to investigate.
Burhan’s sympathizers can gobble this story up without question, but objective
observes should take everything with a pinch of salt. Things are often not what
they seem to be. The simplistic explanation of why Burhan took to guns does not
really hold water.

Even if you accept it as true for its sake, young Burhan
took a vow at the age of 15 to wage war against all of India and establish a
Sharia ruled state instead. At the age of 15! His parents certainly must have
had a profound influence on his, especially
perhaps his sympathetic and devout father. In any case, even then the logic
of wanting to eliminate India itself, calling himself an Islamic warrior
(Gazi), ridiculing non-Muslim workers in Kashmir gives the impression of not an
avenging romantic, but that of a crazed religious zealot.

Then Wasim gives his own stories to back up Wani’s account,
how he was mistreated himself.

‘This reminds me. Let me tell you something about myself.
When the army in Srinagar beat me up for the first time I was ten years old.
Ask me why and I’ll tell you I don’t know. I seriously don’t. I was just
walking on the road and a soldier decided to frisk me then slap me and then he
and his fellow mighty warriors together kicked me. There was no social media
then and I didn’t threaten them. Last I remembered was that I offered water to
one soldier standing outside my house on a hot sunny day.

The second time I was beaten up by the BSF, I was still ten
years old. The third time I was beaten up by the CRPF I was still ten years old
and then next fifteen sixteen times I was beaten up I was STILL ten years old.
I remember this one time. A few years later I was pulled over and the soldier
pushed me aside as I got out of the car. I told him to take it easy and barely
finished my sentence when I felt a gun butt on my neck. I fell down. This was
on the highway. When I regained consciousness I managed to spot an officer. I
walked up to him and tried to reason. Before I could even get close enough he
gestured me to stop. Then he said, ‘Tum sab h******* ke saath yehi karna
chahiyae. Get lost’. He then got in his gypsy along with his mighty force and
drove off. I just stood there and watched them disappear. The damage had been
done. I didn’t catch his nameplate but I hope that wasn’t you.’

The interesting thing is that similar acts are common, most
Kashmiri Muslims you ask will tell that they were tortured by the Army. Ask
them the next day and they will give another account. Ask them the day next and
you will get yet another story. Of course, I am not dismissing them altogether.
Collective suffering may play a role, but the condition often takes on
grotesque forms. An allegation of rape and murder of two young women was blamed
automatically on the armed forces. Of course, non-Muslim Indian soldiers in
Kashmir can’t help but rape and kill Kashmiri girls. Only
later it was found that they were drowned in the river and the post mortem
showed they were not even touched, let alone violated. But by then there
were days of stone pelting, curfews of more than ten days and calls for making
the girls martyrs!

In this age of the internet and mobile phone (and also
secret cameras) that are all cheaply available, why do you think these
incidents of army atrocities on individual civilians are almost entirely
missing from the public domain? There are hundreds of videos of policemen
taking bribes in India, policemen drinking on duty. But where are the videos of
policemen or armymen abusing Kashmiris? They have the same means at their
disposal. If they can write about their ordeal in paper under their name, they
can as well at least record the audio and share them online. Videos? None
exist. Audio – none exist. In fact even pictures are scarce. You have hundreds
of pictures where the CRPF does a body check, or a luggage check, some pictures
show an old man being apparently scared by a stick (implying local riot police,
not army) and so on. But where are the filmy villainous dialogues of the Indian
Armed forces or even the policemen in the Valley?

He says, ‘If you could ask my friends they’d tell you how I
didn’t let that or any similar experiences bother me. Also post these beatings
I didn’t resort to violence. It did cross my mind a few times but it wasn’t in
me. I wouldn’t be out of place if I even told you that all the times I was
beaten up weren’t because I was protesting. I was beaten up because I just
looked at someone in uniform and the person my best guess is that the soldier
probably felt threatened. Trust me when I say I only looked because I was
curious. I can’t say I felt much curious after that.’ No Wasim, admit it. You
don’t know why you were beaten, unless you can read minds. You can make
guesses. But not beyond that. And this is me believing that such an event took
place in the first place.

He continues, ‘In the early nineties the strength of
militants was about 4000 in the valley. You can check this with the nerd at HQ
XV Corps. He’ll agree. Today the number of militants is about 66 in south
Kashmir and about 40 in the north and rest of the valley. However the number of
the army in the early nineties was about five hundred thousand and today it’s a
little over seven hundred thousand. The nerd will agree to this too. So, if the
army has successfully eradicated so many insurgents what is the need for the
might to grow now?’ This is ridiculous. The ‘army’ in the valley, he says,
numbers up to seven hundred thousand. That is half of the total Indian military
strength. He makes a typical Islamist propaganda mistake here – he mentions the
Corps name. So here is the thing. A Corps in India typically consists of about
two or three divisions. This XV corps headquartered in Srinagar has two full
strength divisions (19th Infantry Division HQ Baramulla and 28th
Infantry Division HQ Gurez) (Richard A. Renaldi, 2011) plus an artillery
brigade. The regular strength of each division is about 15,000 men and a
brigade should number around 6000 men. Along with other minor divisional and
corps assets the strength of the XV Corps can never exceed 50,000 men. In fact
that is the regular strength of each corps in the Indian Army. So perhaps,
Wasim has counted the CRPF, the J&K police to boost his quoted numbers. The
BBC, no great friend of India, even quotes a far
fewer 300,000 to 500,000 men – including police and paramilitary forces. So
instead of rising to ‘700,000 and beyond’, it is rapidly decreasing to lower
than 300,000! But the grand lie of 700,000 will continue to exist in the minds
of those who want to perpetuate this image of an ‘unequal struggle’ between
evil (Kufr or disbelief) and Islam.

Then he becomes sickening, ‘Many of my friends are army
officer’s children and not once the thought crossed my mind that why didn’t
they as army officer’s children join the army. I’m saying this to you so that
we are not confused why Geelani’s or someone from Mirwaiz Omar’s family is
abroad. It’s not relevant to what’s happening in Kashmir or is it? You really
think that they would or could have done something to stop the killings? I want
to drop the words Hurriyat, Jihad and Allah from this conversation and keep it
only to the deaths are being caused because of the use of force from the mighty
army on little children.’ These words can make any sane man puke. See how he
justifies the abstaining of the ‘moderate’ separatists’ sons from the
‘struggle’. Fine, must grant him that, he has to defend them, what choice does
he have? But next he brings the biggest statement – dropping the words Hurriyat, Jihad and Allah. Why? The whole
struggle revolves around these words alone. It’s like leaving Nazism out of the
Second World War and call it a war between men of different countries. The
crucial reason d’etre of the conflict vanishes and reduces to a mere clash of
faceless people. When you remove Jihad and Allah from the equation, you remove
the reason, the justification, the little logic there is to the action of the
Jihadists and the reaction of the Indian State. This was an intelligent
maneuver but needs to be met head on. If you are discussing a conflict borne
out of Jihad and Allah, you will have to discuss them as well. There can be no
two ways about it.

Then he very dishonestly bring in the fight between the army
and the children. To be clear, he is in Mumbai, probably in his movie studio.
And the army does not shoot pellets. The local J&K police does. But here’s
the thing – why are children in the streets? Do they know about ‘independence’,
‘Islam’, ‘Kafirs’, ‘essence of the struggle’, ‘significance of Maqbool Bhatt’,
‘Pandits’, ‘India’ etc? It is highly likely that they don’t. Even then why are
they on the streets? When curfews are declared, why are the children the first
to throw the stones? Mind you, children or otherwise, the stones have the same
effect on their victims.

The parents(only fathers, mothers are conspicuously
absent from this struggle) are well aware of the consequences. This is what
makes it macabre. The video of Burhan’s father of glorifying his son’s death
and journey to Allah and afterlife is chilling. Perhaps there is a greater
attachment to this afterlife than making the most of this life, as he himself
accepted to be part of their faith. How do we combat this? These are tough
questions, and answers are not forthcoming easily. But the basic facts remain –
even when there is a curfew, why do the children, young boys (only boys mind
you) go to the streets and throw stones earning accolades from friends and
family! The motive behind imposing a curfew is to allow the people to remain
safe in their homes while the authorities deal with the trouble makers outside.
If the parents (nay fathers) allow their children to become pawns to gain some
Islamic benefits in their afterlife…the mere thought can send chills down one’s
spine.

He goes on, ‘Lets say I protest in Delhi today would I be
shot at? What sort of force would the security forces use on me? Probably water
canons? Lets say I loose my cool and physically assault them then what sort of
force would they use on me? Probably lathis. Lets say I pelt stones on them
then what sort of force would they use on me? Tear gas? And finally if I
behaved like a lunatic because I feel oppressed would I still be shot at? In
Delhi or Mumbai – NO. In Kashmir – YES.’

No, you will be shot in anyplace in the country if you
violate a curfew. Perhaps you don’t know that ‘shoot at sight’ orders are quite
common when dealing with riot prone areas in our country (and abroad). There is
nothing new to this. Even in Mumbai such orders have been issued in the past.

Wasim says, ‘I don’t want to argue about the might or the
force. The right or the wrong. I just want you to know that your words “WE WILL
SHOOT YOU” are ringing in my head and its scary. It’s scary because its not
limited to insurgents, millitants or terrorists. I haven’t even challenged you
but you’re scaring all of us.’ But you just did, Wasim. Why the dishonesty
here? You did bring the David Goliath struggle (though implied), you brought in
ethics (children in the struggle), you brought in the inequality of response
(previous para). And now you say you don’t want to bring in right and wrong?

That’s crass dishonesty. The final statement is far softer in approach and the
conclusions drawn are correct. The Major did issue a threat, with the means to
make it true (okay, his successors as he is retired). But such is the way
democratic states work – instead of rampant exercise of force, it is much
better to create a deterrent to the use of force. You being scared makes it
solve the purpose – a hardline approach, but it works. Any measure of weakness
and who knows, you, Wasim, may have joined in the chorus of anti Hindu and anti
India rhetoric or action!

More troubling is this – remember who Major Gaurav wrote
this letter to? Yes, Burhan. And who is Wasim associating himself with? Again,
yes – Burhan. Surprised? You should not be.

He adds to stress his point that the Major is wrong and he
is right, ‘I’ll also admit that at this point I get a feeling that the same
thought process is being used irrespective. On unarmed ten year olds. Dear
Major Arya there is no might there. There is no might in blinding them. There
is no might in crippling them. There definitely is no might in killing them.
Lets get off of our high horses and see this as human beings.’ I have covered
this before and the repetitive sloganeering needs to be given a pass, or best,
ignored. Children don’t leave out to fight an enemy they don’t even understand.
Unless they are taught or encouraged to do so, children know not even to hate.
Fighting to death and facing pellets is too far off.

He says, ‘I hope this letter somehow trails back you so that
you can see this from a simpler point of view. I hope that you can get to sit
across me and look me in the eye and say there if there is any might or virtue
in this. Just recently a mighty soldier of your
army was denied cremation on basis of his caste. What happened to his mighty
sacrifice? Did he die in vain?’ No Islamist sympathizer will let go of this
taunt. Mark my words, I half expected a caste statement and here it was. Of
course you need not miss the mock tone ‘mighty soldier’ of ‘your’ army. To
answer his question – no. He died doing his duty. The State will forever be
grateful, and not take his caste or creed or even sex into account (unlike
Jihadis, the Indian Forces have started taking women recruits). In any case, we
don’t know if this happened or not, no supporting source is mentioned even. But
while indulging in propaganda, who needs facts?

He ends with this pathetic note – ‘And lastly, please don’t
get me wrong. I feel that even after reading your letter another child is shot
in the name of patriotism, nationalism you’d have done more harm than good.

Signed – Anyone in Kashmir.’

Note the righteous indignation. While the Major’s letter was
basically a stress on the futility of the armed struggle for establishing an
Islamic state in Kashmir, Wasim’s has been of mocking, lies, and dishonesty. In
any case, children are not being shot in the name of patriotism nor
nationalism. But they are simply being caught in the cross fire, urged on by
the cowardly Islamic zealots like their fathers and mullahs and ignorant (or
even innocent) friends. As long as the young men of the valley are enamored by
reaping Allah’s rich dividends at the cost of their children’s eyes, such
incidents will keep happening. Also the security restrictions are present in
Ladakh and Jammu division of the State as well. But they are not turning to
guns. And the last signing off – the claim to represent everyone in Kashmir is
an old trick. But it is not true. As the J&K police is entirely Kashmiri.
As is the J&K Light Infantry of the Indian Army. Not to mention the Shias
who had to run away from the Sunni majority valley to Ladakh. I have not even
mentioned the Kashmiri Hindus who were forced out and barred entry. Perhaps
they were not ‘Kashmiri’ enough for the likes of Burhan and Wasim. I wonder
why.

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I have a beautiful small house in the hills. It is about 3 km from Manali, in Himachal Pradesh. It is not much. Probably calling it a cottage is stretching it too far. I have got a couple of bedrooms, a small drawing room cum kitchen where we dine as well. There is storage and a small garage that is mostly empty. I have got another small room with just a single bed and a study built on the first floor. It is just about ten feet by ten feet but it has got a retractable ceiling and a wall made of glass with the rest of the roof being something of a balcony. This is the place where I like to spend most of my time.
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In the front, there is a garden with some flowers in the front and trees lining the boundary wall. My mother has planted a few vegetables in the back that we regularly use in the kitchen. We mostly require only rice and eggs from the market.

A typical day starts with me waking up and going for a morning stroll. I often spend my nights in the room on the roof. So the first thing…